Magazine for the professional nail industry.
Issue link: http://nailsmag.epubxp.com/i/141803
ou You te Ha From stealing to backstabbing, there are certain things you should never do if you want your coworkers to respect you. Most of these should be common sense, but read on to make sure you are not the problem at your salon. BY BETH LIVESAY Working with other people is a delicate giveand-take. You're probably a perfect employee. And for that, we applaud you. But we know from 5. Dressing Inappropriately talking to nail techs (and from working with other humans ourselves) that everyone isn't perfect. Getting along with your coworkers is an integral part of job enjoyment. So obviously, we recommend you take these tips into consideration and basically do the opposite if you'd like to create a pleasant salon environment for yourself and your coworkers. We asked various nail techs about the behavior that repulses them the most from their colleagues. Their names have been withheld to protect the guilty. Here are 24 surefire ways to make your colleagues cringe when you walk in the door. 6. Gossiping 1. "Borrowing" Supplies Respect each other's space. Don't grab a file or nail polish bottle off your coworker's station without asking. Use common courtesy and ask before taking anything from someone's personal supplies. And if it's communal and you take it off her table, at least leave a note, "I grabbed the UV top coat off your station because I was all out. I'll make sure we're fully stocked tomorrow." 2. Being Too Loud Whether chewing gum lip-smackingly loud or talking on the phone for everyone to hear, don't be that coworker who can't turn the volume down. It's nice to hear your client talk and yourself think. 3. Being a Slob Cleanliness is next to godliness. So don't fall from grace like the techs described here. "Wearing gloves and rubbing her face and hair with it on and continuing the service. Disgusting!" "I am extremely meticulous and one of my top priorities in this business is cleanliness. Clients don't want services done at a place that is a complete mess or dirty. Everything must be absolutely sanitized, spotless, and organized to give off a good impression for the customer. Any techs who don't work like this tend to drive me crazy." If you've heard the saying "dress for the job you want," then you should know not to dress like the following example. "We had no uniform so some of the girls wore skirts and shorts so short you could see their butts even when they were upright." Leave the news reporting to the anchors on television. Talking about others behind their backs lowers morale and makes others not want to trust you. 7. Stealing Clients If a more experienced tech gives you some of her clients to handle while she is out, try to do your coworker proud by proving yourself to her, not to her clients. This is one cardinal rule we got a lot of responses about. "One of the girls that I gave this tremendous opportunity to had been talking badly about both the owner and myself and trying to poach clients for the new business she planned on opening. One of my clients even told me that one of the newly licensed techs told her that she trained me how to do nails!" "I worked somewhere where they hired a 'nail tech' with no schooling or certificates. When I confronted the boss on hiring someone who wasn't even licensed, she informed me she was just going to work the front desk. All of a sudden I wasn't booked and my clients were contacting me on Facebook. This new hire was not even trying to book me! She was turning down my clients, saying things like 'I can't book you with her, but when I'm done with my shift on the front desk I can do your nails.' The few people who fell for it would pay her cash and she would pocket all of it without paying product charges that everyone else had to pay for using shop product. Every client she did nails for ended up tracking me down to do a brand new set right away." 8. T.M.I. Your personal life needs to stay personal. Keep it professional. There's no better way to offend clients than by airing your dirty laundry when they're trying to relax. 4. Backstabbing 9. Stealing Ideas No one likes being thrown under the bus. It is always better to confront someone than it is to be disloyal and untrustworthy. Very few things are original, but by giving credit where credit is due, you are sure to have a lot more of your coworkers in your corner. "Lately, I've had a so-called nail AUGUST 2013 | NAILS MAGAZINE | 167